Alrighty so last week on Wednesday we had transfers and I
found out that I will be staying in the Costanera with Elder Lee for and least
another month and a half. Kinda crazy to think that by the end of this transfer
I will have been in this area for 6 months!! Oh how time flies! Also crazy to
believe that in four days I will complete 10 months out on the mission...wow I
am old.
As far as this week goes,it was pretty normal. For transfers
on tuesday night Elder Lee and I made some Argentine style empenadas and they
actually turned out really good. I´ll make some for the whole family when I get
back. On Friday I went and did a baptismal interview for the zone leaders. As I
said before, I love doing baptismal interviews because they are just so
spiritual and uplifting to see how the gospel can change and help the lives of
those who chose to accept it. Oh and last night I almost got robbed for the
first time. This drunk guy came up to me and Elder Lee really quickly asking us
for money and when we told him that we didnt have any, he tried searching
through out pockets to find some. After a sort search he saw my watch and
started taking it off when I had to grab both of his hands and push them away
while I hopped backwards and starting trotting away backwards while my
companion got away too. SO yeah that was fun.
This week we were able to find a lot of new investigators
but for some reason or another none of them were able to come to church and we
didnt have anybody at church with us. Man Sunday are really frustrating
sometimes because its supposedly the day of rest but anybody who has or is
serving a mission knows that its is just the opposite out on the mission. We
wake up early to leave our apartment at 7 in the morning to go out and look
for/wake up our investigators to bring them to church and then after about an
hour and a half of walking around, avoiding all the drunk guys who have been
out all night parting and drinking, we begin our 35 minute walk to church. And
church attendance is probably the most important key indicator that misionaries
have right behind baptisms and confirmations. So after church when your zone
leaders call you to ask you how many of your investigators came to church and
you have to tell them none, you are usually in for a nice long talk. And after
you finish studying at three you have to go out, find your investigators and
find out why they didnt come to church. Simply said, Sundays are just not quite
the same on the mission, however the three hours that I am inside the church of
the Lord ever Sunday make everything else that happens during the whole week
and on Sunday worth it times ten.
Before the mission I viewed church as the longest, most
boring, most hungaring three hours of the entire week. I felt good at church
but I didnt really love going for three hours every Sunday. Well I can honestly
say that the three hours I am at the church every week here on the mission are
the three most glorious, reviving, relaxing, calming, comforting, peaceful,
spiritual and NEEDED three in the entire week. Its just like all my worries are
gone and I can just focus on my relation with my Heavenly Father and my Savior.
And the harder I work during the week and the harder the week is on me, the
better those three hours are inside the church, renewing my covenants with my
Father in Heaven and remembering the perfect love that he and the Savior have
for me. I would serve a 10 year mission to be able to feel this as powerfully
as I do now every week on Sunday. I know this chruch is true and that this is
the only way to eternal happiness. I love you all very much and I am grateful
for all of your love and prayers.
Love Elder Anderson (Joe)
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